Autonomous Valet Parking Emergency Stop Area Determination

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Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous driving systems may malfunction during autonomous valet parking, leading to potential dangerous situations without appropriate measures to determine the allowable space for an emergency stop.

Innovation Solution

The system includes sensors to detect the surrounding environment and vehicle state, determining an emergency stop area based on speed, time to stop, and obstacles, adjusting the stop area's dimensions to ensure a safe stop, and controlling the vehicle to perform autonomous parking.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the autonomous driving system performs autonomous valet parking without determining emergency stop space, then the parking operation can proceed without additional safety calculations, but the system cannot respond safely to malfunctions or unexpected situations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesafety of autonomous parkingVSAvoidcomplexity of safety determination system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system pre-determines the emergency stop area before actual parking operations begin. The processor calculates the minimum risk maneuver space based on vehicle dimensions, speed, and surrounding environment, preparing safety parameters in advance so that when a malfunction occurs, the vehicle can immediately execute a safe stop without additional real-time calculations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The autonomous driving system incorporates self-safety determination capabilities by having the processor automatically calculate emergency stop areas using the vehicle's own state information (speed, dimensions) and sensor data about the surrounding environment, eliminating the need for external safety monitoring systems

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Measurement precision

If the system determines emergency stop area based on speed and stopping time, then the longitudinal length of safe stop space can be calculated, but the system must continuously monitor and update these parameters during parking operations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of emergency stop area calculationVSAvoidefficiency of parking operation
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system continuously monitors the vehicle's speed and state during autonomous parking operations and dynamically adjusts the emergency stop area calculations. The processor receives real-time feedback from sensors about vehicle speed, position, and surrounding obstacles, updating the minimum risk maneuver space parameters to ensure accurate safety margins while maintaining efficient parking execution

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Object-affected harmful factors

If the system adjusts emergency stop area based on obstacles in driving path, then collision risk can be minimized, but the system must perform additional obstacle detection and distance calculations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecollision risk with obstaclesVSAvoidcomplexity of obstacle detection system
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses the same sensor array and processing unit that perform routine obstacle detection for parking navigation to also calculate emergency stop areas. The processor leverages existing obstacle position data and distance measurements already gathered for parking path planning, eliminating the need for separate dedicated emergency detection systems while ensuring comprehensive safety coverage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP4682004A1Vehicle and method of operating the vehicle for determining allowable space for emergency stop during autonomous valet parking
Publication Date: 2026.01.21 HYUNDAI MOTOR CO LTD
  • EP4682004A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4682004A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4682004A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An autonomous driving vehicle includes at least one sensor configured to detect a surrounding environment of the autonomous driving vehicle to generate surrounding environment information; a controller configured to control one or more operations of the autonomous driving vehicle; and a processor configured to: monitor a state of the autonomous driving vehicle to generate vehicle state information; during autonomous driving of the autonomous driving vehicle, determine, based on at least one of the surrounding environment information or the vehicle state information, whether a minimum risk maneuver is required; and determine, based on the minimum risk maneuver being required, an emergency stop area, in which the autonomous driving vehicle is able to come to a full stop; and control, via the controller and based on the emergency stop area, the autonomous driving vehicle to perform autonomous parking.